In recent years, interest in people's well-being and health has come to the forefront in the United States and many other countries, such that individuals and groups of people running, jogging or walking for exercise on the streets, sidewalks, parks and running trails in the cities and country are becoming a common occurrence. In view of time limitations, many people run before work or afterwards in the evenings at dusk or in darkness. Where light is dim or darkness has fallen, lighting on the streets occupied by runners, because of the lack of or disrepair of sidewalks, is minimal as street lights are normally located at street corners and there are large intervals in long street blocks without lighting; thus runners are not always clearly seen. Another factor affecting visibility is the dark clothing worn by many runners which does not reflect light so that runners are not easily seen by motorists driving on the streets when runners are present.
Recent attempts to make runners more visible include efforts to have runners wear white or light-colored clothing to be more easily seen from the lighting projected from moving vehicles, or to provide running clothing such as jackets with light-reflective tape on the front and back which will catch and reflect the light from the moving vehicles. Even with these measures, accidents involving runners and moving vehicles are numerous which could otherwise be avoided. Obviously, where a runner or jogger and a moving vehicle collide, the runner will sustain more serious injuries, and runner fatalities by being struck by a moving vehicle have risen in number in recent years.
To overcome these problems and the attendant injuries and fatalities and the expense involved, efforts are being made to provide devices which will make runners more visible under circumstances of darkness or poor visibility. One common device is a reflective vest which is worn on the torso of the runner having reflective tape situated in either horizontal and/or vertical directions on the vest, which tape will reflect the light from moving vehicles; however, if the driver has not turned on his lights at dusk, the vest becomes academic. In a similar manner, a reflective belt worn by a runner is not effective unless he or she is running where light from the street lamps will shine on the reflective material or the lights from a vehicle are directed towards the belt.
More recently, various types of individual powered light transmitting devices are being worn by the runner or jogger in an attempt to create greater visibility at dusk or in darkness. Such light-transmitting devices include those for attachment to one or more limbs of the participant, such as a leg light which is attached to a limb of the runner and has a self-contained battery pack, a lamp and a reflector to provide a continuous beam of light. Other types utilize a flashing or blinking light with a dispersive lens to project the light. Also, flashing airplane strobe lights are available which can be clipped to one's belt or clothing to provide a high visibility light source to make one more visible in the darkness. However, these devices are limited in either the strength of the light source or the angle over which the light is visible; most of the devices not being visible over 160 to 180 degrees. Thus, if a vehicle is approaching the runner at an angle from which the device is not visible, such as from the side, the driver may not see the runner until a collision cannot be avoided. To overcome this, multiple lamps may be utilized, but this approach adds extra weight and discomfort for the runner. Also, many of the reflective belts use an electroluminescent material having a relatively low level light source providing only limited visibility.
The present invention overcomes the above noted limitations and shortcomings of previously known light-emitting devices by providing a much higher intensity light which can be seen over a great distance and can be incorporated into a reflective belt or vest that is comfortable to be worn by the runner and makes the runner visible from virtually any angle of approach by a passing motorist.